Acclimation and Meeting With Leaders

Hello everyone.  Holden and I want to thank our Cornerstone church family for the great notes and cards.  We look forward to opening them through out the week. Your prayers and encouragement are a source of  God's strength and provision for us.

We really enjoyed waking up this morning.  It seemed like a long time since we felt rested.  after breakfast we joined the regional meeting of Food for the Hungry staff.  They asked Greg to share a devotional to get start the meeting.  It was a nice time of fellowship and encouragement.  We met some new people, that work in other communities.  Last night we discovered that Rochelle, who has grown up in Sierra Prieta and is studying in university has been working for FH since last spring.  Last year she was teaching some of the Amo classes which trains children to base their life on Biblical principles.  She is now a full-time FH worker focused on children.  Edward who was doing that has grown in his responsibilities to oversee the Amo program and children's workers in the area.

After the devotion Kelvin, the area director, shared a PowerPoint updating the progress that has been made in Sierra Prieta since Cornerstone began partnering with Food for the Hungry here.  It was encouraging and amazing how far the community has come. I look forward to sharing this information with you as we continue to partner in this ministry

Part of our group during the devotional. I'm not much of a "selfie" taker.

After spending some more time this morning learning more about FH's strategy and the communities they are serving, we headed back to Sierra Prieta for a meeting with various leaders in the community.  There has been some recent road work in the area and we now approach Sierra Prieta from a little different direction because of the improved roads in that direction. 

The improved road, notice the smooth surface and dedicated cement drainage on each side to keep it from washing out.

The gathering of leaders in the community included the Mayor, election officials, the leadership of the mothers group, the agriculture group, a representative from the new savings group, Pastor Segundino and some community members.  We had a good conversation about Biblical leadership and they asked many questions including about developing new leaders and sharing vision with the whole community.

Update Pastor Maximo is doing well, his surgery was needed as a result of his motorcycle being hit by a car.  I spoke to his wife today and she said he is doing very well.

The Savings Group is a new development brought by Food for the Hungry to Siera Prieta.  It is a group of 25 families who have all invested at least 25 pesos.  About the amount of a lottery ticket or small candy snack.  (the exchange rate is about 40 pesos to $1.00 US).  Those who have participated can continue to purchase additional "shares" at 25 pesos each.  If there is a emergency in one of the member families they can borrow from the group at a small interest rate.  Additionally they can sell their shares if the need money.  It is the kind of saving that people in these poor communities have little to no opportunity for.  The money is stored at a central lock box that requires 3 keys to open.  These keys are held by the three elected officers of the group.  The box itself is was provided by FH and weighs over 70lbs.  One member of a savings group said, "I used to throw away 2 pesos, now I believe I can save a lot of money eventually not be poor anymore."   This is another way that we are partnering with FH to help bring hope to the hopeless.

The level of pride in the community is growing in many ways.  This is the view from the front yard of the church.  This was a shack like building that was a sometimes little store.  In the last year it has been painted and updated.  Things like this are happening all over the community s hope and pride grow.

In the morning we will have a meeting with the administration of the school and then an assembly of sorts with the older students in the afternoon.  In between we'll be visiting different homes and people throughout the community.

Below is a picture we took of the school while it was under construction last year.  You might be amazed to see how it looks now.  I plan to share some pictures of the school and our upcoming visit in tomorrows' post.

I did title this post with the word acclimation, all I can say is, "Wow, its hot and humid."  and "Praise God for the opportunity to be here."  Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.